Thirteen new paranormal romance titles release this month, including new series additions from, among others, Laurell K. Hamilton (Anita Blake), J.D. Tyler (Alpha Pack), Crista McHugh (Soulbearer), Larissa Ione (Lords of Deliverance), and Kerrelyn Sparks (Love at Stake).
And we must always ask ourselves, do the second- or third-generation Anita Blake novels count as urban fantasy, para-rom, or genre-bender?
Fiction Affliction details releases in science fiction, fantasy, urban fantasy, paranormal romance, and “genre-benders.” Keep track of them all here.
Note: All title summaries are taken and/or summarized from copy provided by the publisher.
WEEK ONE
Firewall (Magic Born #3)—Sonya Clark (December 1, Carina Press)
She was the only Magic Born to escape the Rangers. Now there’s a ten-million-dollar bounty for her return. Trancehacker Tuyet Caron could have left New Corinth, but instead uses her magic and risks her life on a daily basis to help the Magic Born. She’s been careful to avoid capture. A careless glance at a video camera brings her face to face with the Ranger who let her go. Captain Dale Hayes let Tuyet walk away once, When faced with the ultimate choice, he chooses her with barely a thought. That also means siding with the Magic Born and becoming a fugitive in the eyes of the law. Tuyet and Dale plan to flee, but are caught in a deadly riot that kills innocent people. The pair vows to bring an end to the Magic Laws, regardless of what that means for their own safety. (Digital)
Walled (The Line #2)—Anne Tibbets (December 1, Carina Press)
Rebel lovers Naya and Ric have survived one year in hiding, raising Naya’s twins from infants to toddlers in the shadow of the brutal Auberge dictatorship. They’re alive, and they’re together. The city is crumbling around them and the haunting memory of Naya’s dark days on The Line have never fully left them. When a mysterious revolutionary seeks their help to infiltrate Auberge’s electronic heart and shut it down, it’s an opportunity. It’s risky but if it works they’ll get out of the city and taste freedom for the first time. Beyond the broken walls of Auberge, Naya and Ric find the paradise they’ve always longed for. With anarchy reigning and Naya’s children lost amidst the chaos, they’ll need to forfeit their post-apocalyptic Eden, or commit an unspeakable act. (Digital)
Jason (Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter #23)—Laurell K. Hamilton (December 2, Jove)
Jason Schuyler is one of Anita Blake’s best friends and favorite werewolves, with benefits. J.J. is his lady love. She’s accomplished, beautiful, and she’s crazy about him, too. J.J. is enthusiastically bisexual, with an emphasis on the female side of things. She plans to keep sleeping with women, because Jason can’t meet that need, just like she can’t meet Jason’s need for rough sex and bondage. Jason asks Anita to help him explain. Anita is having her own relationship growing pains with her only female lover ever, Jade. Jason suggests that J.J. might be able to help Anita with her girl problem, while she helps him with his kinky explanations. She reluctantly agrees, and J. J. makes plans to fly into town for an experience that none of them will ever forget.
The Boy With the Hidden Name (Otherworld #2)—Skylar Dorset (December 2, Sourcebooks Fire)
Selkie Stewart has just saved her quasi-boyfriend, Ben, from a fairy prison run by the Seelie Court. If they weren’t the two most-wanted individuals in the Otherworld before, they definitely are now. Along with Ben and the rest of their ragtag group of allies-Selkie’s ogre aunts; a wizard named Will; Ben’s cousin Safford; and Kelsey, Selkie’s best friend-Selkie is ready to embrace her destiny and bring the Court down. Until she hears the rest of her prophecy: Benedict le Fay will betray you, and then he will die.
Wolf’s Fall (Alpha Pack #6)—J.D. Tyler (December 2, Signet)
The Alpha Pack are former Navy SEALS that use their Psy powers to take on the world’s greatest predators. While each member is loyal to the pack, it can be hard to deny the call of desire. Alpha Pack commander Nick Westfall isn’t sure he’s fit to lead, especially when he meets the one woman he can’t claim without reliving the torture he endured at the hands of a rogue vampire. Vampire princess Calla Shaw has seen her own share of heartbreak. She can tell that the wild attraction she and Nick feel for each other could turn into something significant. Time is running out for Nick to claim his mate and for Calla and her coven. A vampire war is on the horizon, one the Alpha Pack can’t hope to win if their leader can’t pull himself back from the abyss.
WEEK TWO
Immortal Bond (Divine Immortals #1)—Alix Richards (December 9, MuseItUp)
Solana Dorian knew who her divine mate was, had for centuries. Now the time had come for her to make a decision. Accept him, even if it caused a rift within her family, or walk away. Centuries of patiently waiting for Sunny to grow up weighed on Bentley D’Lyons’ nerves. He refused to pressure her, yet at the same time wished she’d hurry up. Could he handle many more decades of her not accepting him completely? (Digital)
Now That You’re Here (Duplexity #1)—Amy K. Nichols (December 9, Knopf)
In a parallel universe, the classic bad boy falls for the class science geek. One minute Danny was running from the cops, and the next, he jolted awake in an unfamiliar body, his own, but different. Somehow, he’s crossed into a parallel universe. Now his friends are his enemies, his parents are long dead, and studious Eevee is not the mysterious femme fatale he once kissed back home. Then again, this Eevee, a girl who’d rather land an internship at NASA than a date to the prom, may be his only hope of getting home. Eevee tells herself she’s only helping him in the name of quantum physics, but there’s something undeniably fascinating about this boy from another dimension, a boy who makes her question who she is, and who she might be in another place and time.
Princess of Thorns—Stacey Jay (December 9, Delacorte)
Young Adult. Though she looks like a mere mortal, Princess Aurora is a fairy blessed with enhanced strength, bravery, and mercy yet cursed to destroy the free will of any male who kisses her. Disguised as a boy, she enlists the help of the handsome but also cursed Prince Niklaas to fight legions of evil and free her brother from the ogre queen who stole Aurora’s throne ten years ago. Will Aurora triumph over evil and reach her brother before it’s too late? Can Aurora and Niklaas break the curses that will otherwise forever keep them from finding their one true love?
Suspicion—Alexandra Monir (December 9, Delacorte)
Young Adult. “There’s something hidden in the Maze.” Imogen has never forgotten the last words her father said to her seven years ago, before the blazing fire that consumed him, her mother, and the gardens of her family’s English country manor. Imogen moves to New York City with her new guardians. When a letter arrives with the news of her cousin’s untimely death, revealing that Imogen is now the only heir left to run the estate, she returns to England and warily accepts her role as duchess. Imogen quickly learns that dark secrets lurk behind the mansion’s exterior, hinting that the spate of deaths in her family were no accident. At the center of the mystery is Imogen herself, and Sebastian, the childhood friend she has secretly loved for years. Just what has Imogen walked into?
A Soul for Atonement (The Soulbearer #4)—Crista McHugh (December 10, Amazon Digital Services)
Arden Soulbearer has fought a god, defeated a necromancer, and driven enemy invaders out of her homeland. Now, the only reward she desires is to marry the man who’s been by her side through it all, her knight protector, Dev. But with her happy ending almost in reach, an ancient crime returns to haunt them, and the punishment is Dev’s death. A century ago, a Soulbearer stole a sacred relic from the Ornathians, and now their king demands a sacrifice of Dev’s blood to lift the blight cursing his people. Arden’s only hope to free Dev from the king’s prison is to find the relic. But first, she must outwit the one person who knows where the relic is, Loku, the God of Chaos whose soul resides within her. (Digital)
WEEK THREE
Revenant (Lords of Deliverance #6)—Larissa Ione (Dec. 16, Grand Central)
For five thousand years, Revenant believed he was alone in the world, a fallen angel beyond any redemption. Now he finds he has a twin brother who had all the light and love Revenant was denied. Caught in a tug of war between Heaven and Hell, he must weigh his thirst for revenge against his desire for a mysterious female named Blaspheme-a female whose very origins could deliver him into salvation… or destruction… Blaspheme has a deadly secret: she’s the forbidden offspring of an angel and a fallen angel. Hunted by both heavenly and satanic forces, she has survived only by laying low and trusting no one. When Revenant claims he can save them both, how can she possibly believe him? But the powerful angel is persistence incarnate and for Blaspheme, there’s no place she can hide in Heaven or Hell where he won’t find her…
WEEK FOUR
Crouching Tiger, Forbidden Vampire (Love at Stake #16)—Kerrelyn Sparks (December 30, Avon)
Russell wakes from a coma to find he’s become a vampire. Now he has a thirst for revenge. Determined to hunt down the master vampire who turned him, he’s used to working alone, until he meets Jia. She is after the same vampire for murdering her parents and insists she can help. He agrees, and sets up some ground rules: Rule #1: Their partnership is strictly business. If he holds her a little too close, if she looks at him with those exotic eyes, well, that has to stop. Rule #2: He’s in charge. Jia isn’t used to taking orders and questions every move he makes. He stops her the only way he knows how. Rule #3: Don’t fall in love. But the kiss that was supposed to quiet her awakens something else in him, something forbidden. Because Jia is engaged. To someone else.
Hot Blooded (Dark Kings)—Donna Grant (December 30, St. Martin’s)
The Dark Kings soldier on in their fight to preserve their dragon magic. But eternal doom is always close behind…His name is Laith. To most, he’s known as the owner of a local pub near Dreagan. But little do his patrons know that beneath his handsome, charming exterior Laith has the heart and soul of a Dragon King—one who wields control by keeping his friends close and his enemies, just across the border, closer. Until a mysterious stranger enters the picture, and sets his whole world off course…Iona is a woman with a mission: To learn the truth about her dead father. She’s returned to Scotland only to learn that she’s part of an ancient pact with Dreagan—one that will threaten the fragile peace with the Dragon Kings. Gorgeous, sly Iona isn’t like anyone Laith has ever met before…and she harbors a secret that others would kill to possess. Will she complete him—or destroy him? Passion always comes with a price. Initially released in four installments.
Suzanne Johnson is the author of the Sentinels of New Orleans urban fantasy series and, as Susannah Sandlin, author of the Penton Legacy paranormal romance series and The Collectors thriller series. You can find Suzanne on Facebook and on her daily blog, Preternatura.
